Pentagon Chief Warns Won't Accept Extra Spending Cuts

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned Thursday he would not accept large military cutbacks under a debt deal, charging the move would weaken the United States faced with rising powers. ... Such cuts "I believe would do real damage to our security, our troops and their families and our military's ability to protect the nation," Panetta said. "It is an outcome that would be completely unacceptable to me as secretary of defense, to the president and, I believe, to our nation's leaders," he said. – AFP Source